Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Doubt ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

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Shattered Illusions

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 8: Doubt

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"So, that's why you wanted me to be quiet about it. I had no idea that I could start the end of the world," Millie clenched the bottom of her fuku and looked down in worry. She had almost done something that would have led to a major change. To think that word of mouth could be such a powerful tool in destruction.

"Unless you want to screw up our lives, than you'd better not say a word," Tsubomi sat up in bed, a slight dizziness overcame her, causing her to slow a little before turning her head to the school girl. The stripper's words were still cold and convicting, though weakness clung to them, threatening to break her icy nature.

"No way! I don't want anyone to come after me!" The girl squealed. She already nearly caused the end of the harmony between humans and vampires. Millie didn't want to screw anything else up, and that was for sure.

"After this, you'll have more reasons to carry a gun."

"Don't say that to me!" The very thought scared the crap out of Millie. It was not the time for Tsubomi to joke of such a thing.

"We wished we were kidding," Copernicus furrowed his eyebrows and looked as if he pitied her for a moment as he struggled to keep his pleasant façade. His thoughts were mixed, and he found himself silently in regret over playing the seemingly harmless joke on her. Even if Millie had talent at firing a gun, the vampires had far more advanced means of weaponry and alchemy. It would be hard for her to survive.

"Seriously, people are hunting you down," Millie's sights turned to the vampire as the girl wondered how he could be so calm about things of such magnitude.

"Vampires more specifically," the Inheritor corrected, "I haven't had one come after me that was a human."

"Who were Carlyle and Hepesta?" Tsubomi looked to him with a serious expression. They seemed to be two people of importance and she remembered them being spoken of before she passed out. The tomboy had the feeling that those two figures were important to Copernicus somehow and that he knew them on a personal level.

Crestfallen, the Inheritor's facial features changed into a frown as he looked to the ground and fell silent.

"So, you do know them," she confirmed.

"They are the king and queen of the vampires in my country. They were killed by Hizaki," his words were low and nostalgic. It seemed that the king and queen meant a great deal to Copernicus.

"But, that's just speculation, isn't it?" Tsubomi questioned. Surely, there was a possibility that they could be alive.

"Who knows, but I believe that it's true," the Inheritor's words held doom to them. "Hizaki used to be Hepesta's adviser. He probably had it planned for a while."

"So, who's left out of the royal court, aside from you?"

"I'm not sure. I do know that it all started with Prince Yale's death," Copernicus frowned on mentioning the prince. His relationship with the figurehead was far closer than that of the queen or king.

"Prince Yale?" Millie questioned, interested in who exactly he was. She didn't know much about royalty, much less met any in her life and if there was ever a more far-fetched goal to achieve, it would be that. Such a simple girl like her, being in the company of such aristocratic people like Tsubomi and Copernicus made her feel like a lowly tea wench or something. After all, their outfits were so decorative with frills, gold buttons, cravats and ties and she wore a simple uniform. It made her feel so plain and drab.

"He was the next in line to be king. He knew…He knew what was to be fall him. That's why he was the first to fall," Copernicus' head lowered as he continued to explain the painful situation of the prince and who he was, his heart wrenched as it brought back excruciating memories. "Yale Axis Greenchapel was the youngest member of the royal family. He was an excessive worrier and he always was concerned for his father's condition. Vampires are usually impervious to disease but Carlyle was cursed by a witch and the hex caused his health to deteriorate. Yale was always under pressure and was a very timid and fragile person."

Millie looked on with interest as she heard about the prince and smiled softly, commenting on how she found him to be sweet. A saddened expression crossed the vampire's face as he continued to speak, reminiscing the day that the troubled prince went to him, so full of pain and fright.

A pair of dainty, gloved hands grabbed his shoulders, nearly clinging to him as the prince stared him down with a pained frown and brilliant, blue eyes with long, elegant lashes looked upon him with a great deal of emotion. Prince Yale's looks were very feminine and he was noticeably younger than Copernicus. His frame was light and slim, with long, light tan hair and bangs that fell to his jaw line. The prince was a very feminine man, light-framed and elegant-looking.

Those eyes that stared at him in such disparity and terror. It was a look that bored through the vampire's soul. It was a look that he would never forget - a look that haunted him in his sleep.

"Copernicus Julius Wittenburg, I have to tell you something," his youthful, yet troubled voice shook as the words pushed themselves from his mouth. Prince Yale very rarely addressed someone like him by his full name, and when he did, it was never a good feeling.

"Of course…What's wrong, Prince Yale?" Copernicus asked a little cautiously, as his eyebrows furrowed in worry for the younger male.

"Please, come with me. We can't discuss it out here," Yale took the elder vampire by the wrist and led him away. At that point in time, it hit Copernicus that there was something far more to the situation than he could ever dream of seeing. It was no miniscule problem when the prince decided that he wanted to take him somewhere private.

Copernicus agreed as the two walked down into the royal safe room. The room was designed as an easy escape route if the castle was ever attacked by terrorists and only the royal court and family had use of the room. The walls were thick, which made the room soundproof, fire proof and disaster proof. It was the perfect room to speak of such important matters so that the other members of the royal court and family could not get in their business.

"Don't tell anyone this, but I'm really worried about my mother and father," the prince told him as the two of them stood in the room, facing each other. Yale still wore his worried expression and Copernicus' was casual, but in his mind he didn't truly know what to expect.

"That's what you came here to tell me?" The Inheritor wasn't too thrilled upon hearing his answer. Prince Yale had always been concerned with his parents, and this seemed like another typical worry of his. It seemed as though he was making a big deal of nothing again.

"It's different this time. Someone's trying to kill them." The words cut through Copernicus like a finely sharpened knife. The matter was truly more urgent then he had previously thought.

"Do you know who it is?" The inheritor frowned as he features twisted into a grave expression as the prince told him that he did, indeed know who it was. "Then have them executed. You're a prince, you should know this." It seemed simple enough, so what was the problem? Why was someone like his majesty wasting his worry over such things?

"I can't even give the orders. I can't say anything," Yale had tried to have the matter taken care of, but there were underlying circumstances that prevented him from doing so.

"Why?"

"My voice is taken when I'm around them," Yale felt helpless to admit that to a person in the royal court that was so much older than he. It made him feel as if he had failed his country and his people if he could not handle something like this.

"Tell me who they are. I'll alert them myself." Something was definitely wrong and if the prince couldn't tell his own parents, then perhaps he would be able to tell him. Whoever planned this, cast some sort of spell on Prince Yale while his defenses were down.

"It's…" The prince tried to tell Copernicus but, that was the only word he would produce before his lips moved but nothing came out. A look of shock and vulnerability overcame him as his eyes widened and he tried to utter the names again, but to no avail. Frowning deeply, Yale shut his eyes and turned his head away. He would not allow the other man to see the pain that assaulted him, threatening him with a breakdown of tears.

"You can't even tell me to warn them, can you?" Copernicus' voice was sympathetic towards the young prince. He could tell that it was truly ripping him apart.

Taking a step closer, the Inheritor wrapped an arm cautiously around the other man and pulled him close into a hug. He could feel the prince's body trembling with emotions below his, and after a couple of minutes of silence between the two men, he could hear small sobs as the figurehead wept into his chest.

"I can't stand this! It's tearing me apart. I know…I know everything and I can't say anything," Yale's anguished voice reached Copernicus' ears as he tried to think of some way to help his highness. He could never stand to see the prince hurt by anything, let alone something of this magnitude.

"Have you tried writing it out?" Maybe if he wouldn't say it, he could write it on something.

"The letters switch around and it looks like a jumbled mess," the prince admitted. He too had thought of the idea, but when he showed his parents, they simply wore confused expressions and commented on how he had been acting strange lately. He felt like his parents thought he should be committed more than anything.

A large hand stroked the top of the prince's head, trying to chide him. "Your brain is a jumbled mess. You're such a train wreck these days. Have you tried telepathy?" Copernicus knew that the prince had telepathic powers. Perhaps they could override the spell somehow.

"I lose my energy and faint. I've been hospitalized by the castle staff twice," Yale admitted in defeat.

"How long has this been going on?" Copernicus placed his hands on the man's shoulders as he pushed him gently away from his form, staring into those miserable blue hues. There had to be something that he could do to help the prince. He had to fix this problem or the entire royal family would end up dead.

"For three months that I know of. I overheard them talking and they found me out," Yale told him lowly as he rested a hand on his chest, his gaze crestfallen as his eyes sparkled with sorrow.

"Whoever it is, really doesn't want their identity revealed and has taken every precaution," Copernicus noted. This was far from any normal assassination plan taken out on the royal family. Whoever had planned to do this wanted to torture the prince, for whatever reason, and kill off the king and queen with no evidence left behind.

"I'm tormented by this. Their deaths will be my guilt," Yale could not help but let his tears flow once more, not caring how undignified he looked as he clutched the elder vampire's elaborate Victorian coat and continued to sob like an insecure child.

"I wish I had some advice to give. I feel useless. Surely we can think of something," the Inheritor wore a look of worry himself. Copernicus feared for the prince. Yale was a very close and dear friend of his, and he would sacrifice anything for the figurehead. The fact that something of this magnitude was going on unnoticed filled him with many uncertain and sorrowful emotions.

From this point on, he would dedicate himself to helping the prince and trying to get to the bottom of the problem, no matter what.

"Please…help me…" Yale begged for someone- anyone to come to his aid. Although he felt as if he was useless, he felt as if Copernicus was the closest thing to a confidant that he could get.

"I tried to help him, but I could never figure out who was plotting to kill the king and queen. We managed to heighten the security but if we don't know who it is that's trying to make the attempt, then we're severely blindsided," Copernicus explained. Without knowing who it was left many unguarded areas in their plan. If the assassins were someone inside of the castle, they had no way of defending against them or even finding out who it was. No matter what investigations they had done, there wasn't enough evidence to conclude that anyone committed any suspicious activity against the king or queen.

A desperate situation without a definite answer was very worrisome.

"If they are in the royal court, then they'd be protected too. It's like giving them an opportunity when the guards are away," Millie stated. When she thought about it, it was the perfect crime. If the guards protected the royal court, then someone could do an inside job because they were protected as well.

"That was our fatal error," the Inheritor closed his eyes and wore a look of disappointment.

"The only ones who even could get to the queen and king would be the security, Prince Yale or their servants and advisors. If they wanted Prince Yale to be quiet, then it was obviously someone he knew." Tsubomi deduced. Any inside job was most likely from someone the person knew, unless a third party was involved.

"Which could be tons of people since he's a prince. Talk about a broad spectrum," Millie sighed. That deduction didn't bring them any closer to solving the mystery than they had been.

"Yes, it would be too vast to determine," Copernicus agreed.

"Staff is always the first to rebel. They have inside connections," the stripper noted. If you wanted to do anything masterfully, then do it from the inside out. That way, you're the last to be suspected and the first to frame whoever you wish.

"True, but then you have a lot of false accusations that would cause further rebellion." Executing the wrong person for a crime with on suspicion as blame would trigger rebellion in certain groups. If enough groups rebelled, then the figurehead was under more hate than they were previously and the risk for assassination was higher.

"Everyone would think you're a bad ruler too," Millie pointed out. A lot of people could hate the ruler for making a wrong decision and that would only lead to him being overthrown.

"Guess I don't know what I'm talking about," Tsubomi didn't feel like defending her views anymore, so she simply rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. Not only was Millie pointing out the flaws in her views, Copernicus was agreeing with her. They were both against her.

The stripper tensed as she heard the covers moving and felt the tight squeeze of a one-armed hug. It was Copernicus. "You're not stupid; you were just trying to find a weakness."

"Yeah, don't feel bad," Millie added.

"Your voice is annoying," Tsubomi spat coldly.

"Hey! Why are you so mean to me? What's your malfunction?" The girl went rigid with anger. There was something about the tomboy that struck her in all the wrong ways. If she wasn't putting her down, she was disagreeing with all of her plans.

Tsubomi threw off the covers and sat up, nearly clashing heads with her master as she glared down the school girl. Copernicus was glad that he had good reflexes. A giant forehead bruise wasn't too flattering to his figure.

"You think everything is a romp in the park. You think that this is cool and fun to be around us. What? Because we fulfill your little gay fantasies? Go look at gay porn and leave us alone, you stupid little fan girl," Tsubomi seethed as Copernicus looked to be for a loss of words. The Inheritor could only stand there, looking a little caught between the fires of verbal exchange and utter 'uh' absentmindedly. "You're in the way."

"If you wanted to be alone, then I get the hint, you jerk!" Millie shot back as she stomped out of the room and slammed the door.

Copernicus looked towards the door in a worried manner before he turned back to Tsubomi. "You really don't like her, do you?"

"You could say that."

"You're feisty. That's sexy," the vampire complimented, trying his usual method to calm his donor down, but she would have none of it this time. Tsubomi glared at him for a moment before she lay back down and pulled the covers over her angry face before she uttered the words 'get out.'

At this point in time, she wasn't pleased with either one of them.

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Millie leaned against the elaborate door frame and stared around the dimly lit white room. Everything in Copernicus' house looked so elegant and untouched by time. It was a very sterile environment and it reminded her more of an imperial palace than a rich home.

Frowning in disappointment, she sighed to herself as she mulled over the matter in her head. 'I was just trying to lighten the mood. The truth is…I'm really scared, especially after I heard that story about Prince Yale. I mean, what if I couldn't tell anyone something important? That must be such a horrible feeling. I don't want that to happen to me. I don't want to end up like him.

What do I do? I already saw the vampire and he knows what I look like. Now he can hunt me down and kill me at any time. When I'm alone, I'm just one girl. I'm not like Tsubomi-kun or Copernicus. They are both so composed and they seem to know everything. Plus, they are amazing fighters…Maybe Tsubomi-kun is right, maybe I am just in their way.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the light shutting of the door as Copernicus leaned against the other side of the door frame and glanced at her through the veil of dim lighting.

"Copernicus?"

"Millie, I thought you left."

"Even if I did, where could I go?" The school girl looked to him with sparkling eyes of fear.

"I can take you home if you like." Even though it wasn't a good idea, Copernicus couldn't keep her captive, if she hated the situation so much. She would be at a higher risk for death but it was her own decision on whether or not she chose to stay.

"Why? Tsubomi-kun said that they'd just hunt me down and kill me. I can't even see my family now, because the vampires will kill them. I have to stay here, with you and Tsubomi-kun," the girl's frightened words made Copernicus' heart sink a little. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. She was truly an everyday person with an every day dream, and because of his incident, she was forced to deal with the same pains that he and Tsubomi had taken on.

She may have had excellent marksman talent but her psyche was weak. Millie was the opposite of Tsubomi in that aspect. While Tsubomi was mostly numb and dead, Millie was full of emotion and life. The school girl seemed to have a rather large heart, which posed as a strength or weakness depending on how one saw it.

"Tsubomi doesn't stay with me. He has his own place," the Inheritor replied. Even if Tsubomi did stay with him, his house had more than enough room for three people.

"Well, I'm not asking him. He's not going to let me stay here, Millie said. By staying with Copernicus, it only made Tsubomi hate her twice as much.

"I could talk to him for you," Copernicus offered. It wasn't truly up to Tsubomi anyway, rather or not the girl stayed with him but he would like to have his donor's opinion either way.

"How exactly are you going to convince him?"

"I'll see what I can do. For now, we should let him rest. If you'd like to talk with me, then we can get any unanswered questions you have out of the way. Besides, I'm interested in your shooting skills." Copernicus mentioned with a great deal of interest. It would be a prime moment to talk amongst themselves regarding that subject without Tsubomi's jealousy interrupting them.

"My shooting skills?" Millie was a little confused. Why would a vampire be interested in a sharp shooter?

"You're the daughter of a sharp shooter, correct?" Copernicus asked as they began to walk down one of the long hallways.

"Yes, my dad always thought that it was necessary to know how to shoot a gun. Everyone in my family can shoot guns. I've even been to a few competitions with him. I'm pretty good but nowhere near my father's potential," the girl explained as questions mulled over in her head about the subject at hand. Copernicus had told her that she was useful time and time again, but what was his aim?

"Would you consider acting as a recruit?" The vampire's words confused her. Stopping, she looked at him and blinked, hardly comprehending that he had asked her that.

"Recruit? You want to recruit me? But all I did was scream and faint." Those were hardly talents that one would want, especially nobility like him.

"Towards the end, you showed remarkable skill," the vampire complimented her, which left her twice as bewildered as before. Millie uttered 'huh' in confusion. She truly didn't see herself as useful. "You shot off all of Hizaki's nails at an instant before they could even touch me. That's impressive."

"Tsubomi will hate me even more. The last thing I want to do is come between the two of you," Millie had already felt that she was a burden. Tsubomi had shown her wrath, and it was far more than she wanted to see. The girl already had enough pressure on her, and she didn't need a cold, jealous boy on her case too.

"I don't want your blood."

"I never offered to give it to you!" Tsubomi shrunk back, looking a little uneasy and defensive. If that's what he wanted a recruit for, then he could forget it!

"I prefer Tsubomi's blood."

"You do that then. So what do you want me for? I'll just run in circles screaming if I see any more vampires," the girl continued to question the vampire's motives. She was more like a moving target

than anything. Sure, she had good gun skills but was it truly enough to hold her in such high standings?

"You can be incredibly brave. When danger comes along, your trigger finger has no hesitation, and that's why I like you." The vampire replied with a gentle smile. From what he had seen, he knew that great potential lay within the girl; she was simply feeling unsure of the situation and lacked a little self-confidence.

"You…like me?"

"Yes, you are skilled and talented. I could use someone like you," the Inheritor sincerely hoped that the girl would take his offer. It was a little annoying that she kept thinking of herself in such an inferior way.

"But, Tsubomi-kun seems better at this than me," Millie tried to reason. There really was nothing special about her, not compared to someone like Tsubomi. That boy outclassed her in so many ways that she felt like scum beneath his shoe.

"Which is remarkable, for the short period of time that we've known each other," Copernicus was interested. "I didn't even know that he could fight." Although the fact that he could made him feel a little more secure about the boy being his donor.

"Wow, you guys really don't know each other, do you?" The school girl blinked a little as she gazed at the vampire unsurely. Until recently, it had seemed like Tsubomi and Copernicus knew each other like the back of their hands. Seems they never turned over their hands much. The more they spoke of each other like that, the more they seemed like just two strangers who happened to get along.

The royal man replied with a negative answer and a mere shake of the head. As much as he longed for her assumption of the two of them as a couple to be true, he knew what the painful reality of the situation was.

"But, you act like you've known each other for years." No matter how many times the vampire denied it, Millie still couldn't believe it.

"Do we?" Copernicus was just as amused as ever with the assumption. It was true that he and Tsubomi were close, but were they truly as close as Millie had said? When he thought about the depths of his relationship with his newly acquired donor, it made him ponder on where their boundaries lay. The two of them were close, but how close? Was their friendship simply that? No. He couldn't think of it so simply. The relationship between a vampire and donor had never been simple. No relationship in general was so simple.

"Maybe your attitudes match. You're both so intellectual and mature. Plus you seem really close to each other. It must be cool to have a friend like that." What Millie had just told him didn't get him any closer to gaining an answer.

"It's very interesting, when I first spoke to him in the strip club, we hit things off well. He seemed to really understand me and even though I didn't want to tell him that I was a vampire, he didn't judge me. He hasn't said anything about my race at all," Copernicus smiled at the thought of the boy not being judgmental of him at all. Aside from his dearly departed prince, Tsubomi was the only one whom he felt comfortable around in such ways.

"He seems protective of you. He'd probably rip my lips off if he saw me talking to you," Millie stated as the two came to a small, round tea table. Copernicus ventured off into the blindingly white kitchen to get some tea while the girl took a seat at the table and stared at the neatly folded, decorative napkins.

"Interesting…" She heard the amused voice from the kitchen.

"I don't think it is," Millie wasn't fond of being hated by someone who would have contact with her from now on.

"Don't worry, you can write your parents a letter and tell that that because of an unsafe situation, you've been forced to take refuge with a friend and that you'll write them every week so they'll know you're safe." If the girl decided to put the return address, it would quickly be taken off.

"I'm just glad my real parents are in America but I don't want anything to happen to Michiko and Ken. They have been so kind to take me in and care for me. I'd hate myself forever if anything happened to them." Now, because of her, someone innocent and kind had been thrown into the mixture as a potential target. It was something that she had regretted, and what turned out as an adventurous trip to Japan, turned into an utter hell for her.

"I can't assure you that they'll be safe, but I want to give you some kind of contact with them. Tell them that you called the police already so they don't actually send them out. If that happened, then the problem would only grow," the last thing that Copernicus needed was the authorities on him for any reason. The vampire had a clean record, but being deported back to America would only ensure the death and enslavement of everyone in Japan, and the rise of Hizaki and Hide's corrupt form of government.

Millie agreed as the vampire came in and handed her a cup of tea. The girl gingerly sipped on the warm liquid, enjoying the taste of such an exquisite and rich drink. It warmed her body and soothed her nerves. The brunette sat across the table and propped his head up on his hand, gazing at the girl in his usual way of placid interest.

All was silent between the two of them before she heard his deep, rich voice ask if she was enjoying the tea. The magenta-haired girl nodded with a slight smile and asked him what kind of tea it was. Copernicus replied that it was Orange Spice Tea and that flavor lit up her face with excitement.

"Really? Wow! I love Orange Spice Tea!" She knew she had recognized the taste, but the way in which Copernicus made it was different from all of the tea that she had tried and certain spices were stronger than others. It gave it an exotic taste.

"It's one of my favorites." The vampire replied with a smile.

"Me too! I also like Ginseng, Peppermint and Vanilla tea!" The girl spouted off the names of her favorite flavors. Their discussion turned into a casual one about the different types of tea that had preferred. Copernicus had preferred Red Tea and Asian Spice, as well as a love for Rose Hip Tea. The thought of the last one had interested her, causing her to bring up a question of whether or not the rose hips were actually eaten. The Inheritor informed her that they were, and he thought of them as delicious.

Their conversation was soon interrupted by Tsubomi, who stood lazily in the doorway. The stripper was still tired and sleep and fatigue gripped her form tightly.

Even though he knew that the girl was angry at him, the Inheritor thought he would ask out of concern and kindness if she had a good sleep. His question was only met with a cold answer of 'no, I didn't' as the tomboy walked over and sat a couple chair's distance from the vampire, showing that she was still bitter. It disheartened Copernicus, but in a way, he knew that he was at fault.

"We were just talking about tea, weren't we?" He asked the school girl, who had been busily sipping her tea. Millie smiled and nodded, telling Tsubomi that the tea was really good and suggested that she try some.

"I'm fine," the answer was dry and emotionless. Tsubomi didn't want any interest in either one of them.

"You should get your fluids back up. I can't take care of myself if you don't take care of yourself. It's a symbiotic relationship," Copernicus tried to quell her, but she didn't want to hear him out either.

"Yeah, I hear you."

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Copernicus asked. He wanted so badly for the girl to talk to him. It was no fun with her being angry at him.

"Not really."

"Is it because I'm staying here with Copernicus?" Millie asked as the room filled with silence. A pin could drop and hit the floor with crystal clear sound and a tension thick enough to physically cut filled the air between all of them as they sat and stared with uncertainty at each other.

"I knew you two were plotting something," Tsubomi commented. As soon as she decided to fall asleep, Copernicus was already moving the girl in behind her back. Honestly, she couldn't leave them alone for two minutes without something happening.

"You have a place to stay, but Millie is just a girl," the Inheritor tried to explain that he had no evil intentions behind anything. He just hoped that Tsubomi would listen to him and come out of her shell about the whole fiasco.

"Yeah, a girl with a good trigger finger, so she's useful," the stripper spat in resentment. Compared to someone with talent, she was useless as a donor. She wasn't scouted out because of her skill. She

was scouted out because she was beautiful. Tsubomi hated it. She hated the fact that Copernicus fancied the girl because he saw her talent. 'Why the hell am I so bothered by that? It's not like I like Copernicus so why do I feel so threatened by that air head?'

"I don't have anywhere to stay, sorry. I really don't want you to hate me, Tsubomi-kun," Millie's words were sincere in tone as she cast a worried look to the exiled figure.

'What now? Do I tell him that I want to live with him? It's far too late for that now. I'm so confused. I don't even know what to do.' Tsubomi thought as her frown deepened and confusion ran rampant in her mind. She could have said so much. She could have ended the moment of pain by offering to stay with Copernicus, but that would mean that she'd be letting Millie win in a sick, twisted way and she couldn't stand for it. Tsubomi also couldn't risk herself being found out in such a way. If Millie knew that she wasn't a boy, then everything would be over.

She had no choice but to push him away again.

"If you want to move in with me, Tsubomi, then you can. I am still open for your offer," the vampire spoke the words that made it all the more unbearable for her to turn him down.

The internal struggle in her mind was nearly too much to take with the added stress she had been put through. 'If I say yes, I'm good as dead when he finds out that I'm a woman.' She lowered her head in disappointment at what she was about to say. Tsubomi dreaded it. She didn't want it, but there was no other way to handle the situation. 'Then why? Why does it hurt so much to turn him down again?'

She clenched her fists. "No, that isn't what I want," the stripper replied through gritted teeth, looking as if she was about to explode with emotion.

"I'll stay as far away as I can. I don't want to do anything bad. Please believe me," Millie tried to put her at ease. She really had no attraction to Copernicus, other than thinking that he looked good with her.

"How ironic is this?" Tsubomi trailed as thoughts filled her mind. 'I'm just a little puppet. Yeah, street fighting, it's the only thing I can do. I can shoot a gun but my skills are novice compared to her. I suck more than ever. I might as well be a lonely wallflower and fade into the woodwork.' She admitted to herself. Millie was everything that she wished she could be - beautiful in a feminine way, tough, athletic and talented. Someone like Copernicus could easily be drawn to something far more prestigious than herself. After all, Tsubomi was nothing more than a quick meal and a quick tease at the strip club.

"What do you mean?" Copernicus looked to her with slight interest.

"My pretty face is all I have going for me. Up against the two of you, I'm normal. I thought I could do this, but maybe not," she didn't know anymore. Sure, Tsubomi could keep Copernicus' secret and continue to be his donor, but at what worth was she placed? All of the stress had been getting to her, and her state of mind was fragmented. She was so upset that she had made herself sick over the whole situation. The illness had risen more than before and sat on her like a lead weight.

"What? I thought you knew what you were doing," Millie was shocked at her revelation. "I felt like a doll that was just thrown around. You saved my life, Tsubomi-kun and more than once. You also took that hit for me when Hizaki attacked me. You have real strength, not me. If I didn't have a gun, I would have gotten killed. You're not useless, you're amazing!"

The girl was surely just trying to flatter her. She would have no use for false compliments, no matter how convincing Millie tried to make her words sound. "I'm just some faceless nobody who works at a strip club. I know I'm a donor but it feels awkward. I haven't had any time to think this over. My life used to be so consistent and mundane until I met you, Copernicus, and lately it seems so busy and dangerous. It's hard to adjust. I guess I'm just kind of lost." Blue eyes looked to the vampire with slight confusion and languor. 'For once…For once in my life, I truly am not in control of what happens to me. I don't even know how to start over, with this new identity, or what I even feel about you, Copernicus, my dear master.'

To Be Continued…